The Ipod Evolution
How Apple Spawned A Culture
Ipods have been around a while now, I’m sure you are aware of that, but did you know the first ones were released six years ago? That’s right, 2001 saw the first appearance of the little white marvel, and there have been many different permutations from there. Check out this lesson on Ipod history to find some surprising facts.
Ipod:Generation 1- While they may have been hugely capable and effective at the time, the specs of the first generation Ipods pale in comparison with their younger siblings these days. The first ones had a 5GB memory as standard, which held 1000 songs more or less, and is what prompted the famous Apple slogan, “1000 Songs In Your Pocket”. Still, the slogan and the Ipods themselves seemed popular enough, even though the Itunes software was only available to Mac users at that point. Apple had set quite a precedent with their little white boxes, only time would tell if they could capitalize and expand on that.
Ipod:Generation 2- The second generation is sometimes known as generation 1.5 due to the fact that the Ipod remained unchanged in the majority. The only real differences between these ones and the originals were that the thumb scrolling wheel became more like the mousepads you see on modern notebooks, instead of an actual wheel that clicked around, and they now supported the PC as a platform from which to transfer songs and media. This would prove to be a major shot in the arm, as it opened the Ipod up to a whole new market…
Ipod:Generation 3- This generation is the one largely responsible for the massive Ipod culture we have in the world today. The third generation refined the PC support, and for the first time made it possible to access a PC from a commonly available USB cable, instead of the previously used Firewire interface. Finally, Ipods were accessible to everyman, and without the need for specialist equipment or interfaces. It’s also worth noting that the 3rd generation was the first to offer truly huge storage, with some of them weighing in at 20GB.
Ipod:Generation 4- By this point Apple seemed very aware of the controlling point they had of the market, and from here it has seemed like we get a new permutation or variation on the Ipod theme every year or even every few months. The phrase “1000 songs in your pocket” became ever more accurate with the release of the Ipod mini, and later the Ipod nano, both of which were absolutely tiny-the Nano being less than a quarter inch thick and still boasting a 2gb storage capacity. Not only was it revolutionary in size, it was also the first Ipod to feature a real calendar/address book, and also games you could play whilst listening to your music.
Ipod:Generation 5- Generation 5 heralded the arrival of the Ipod Video, which does exactly what you imagine-stores and plays back high quality video on the go. Boasting a larger screen and huge storage ability at 30gb, the video was surely the way to go for anyone that wanted to go beyond music.
Ipod:Generation 6 This most recent development in the Ipod evolutionary chain is truly the most impressive. The latest Ipod Nano has been released, boasting storage capacities of either 4gb or 8gb, and at less than a quarter inch thick, an inch and a half wide and two inches tall, this is truly impressive-especially if you take into account that it’s the first truly small Ipod to offer video playback as standard and has in built graphically intensive games for the user to play. An amazing development and true technological marvel.
It seems the only question left that we can ask is where will they go from here?
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